One of the brightest spots of the 2002 football season, first-team All ACC defensive end Shawn Johnson, has announced his decision to transfer.
A junior, Johnson led the ACC with 12 sacks and was the Blue Devils' lone member on the first-team all-conference squad. Johnson, who has already been released from his scholarship, intends to play for Division I-AA Fordham next season. According to collegefootballnews.com, Johnson was the 113th best player coming into spring ball, all positions inclusive.
"This outcome was inevitable and probably in the best interests of everyone involved," head coach Carl Franks said in a statement.
Rowbury top American freshman in mile
Freshman Shannon Rowbury came in 19th place in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 14 in Fayetteville, Ark. Her time of 4:56 barely missed the cut for All-American status, as the top eight Americans earn the distinction. Rowbury was the ninth-placing American.
Warner wins pole vault, 8 athletes earn
All-East honors at ECAC, IC4As
A 16' 6" leap won the pole vault for junior Brent Warner at the IC4A Championships in Boston last weekend. All in all, the men's track team garnered 30 points--good enough for seventh place and its highest ever school finish with 30 points. The women's team finished 10th with 24 points at the ECAC Championships, also held in Boston.
Among the All-East honorees--all athletes placing eighth place or better--were Warner, sophomore Michael Hatch in the 5,000 meter run and Nick Schneider in the mile. Two men's relays and the women's distance medley relay also received All-East distinction. Other high-placers were freshman Sally Meyerhoff in the mile, classmates Clara Horowitz and Laura Stanley in the 3,000 and Phebe Ko in the 5,000.
No. 5 Duke tacks on 3 wins
Senior All-Americans Kate Kaiser and Lauren Gallagher accumulated 20 goals in three wins for the women's lacrosee team (6-1, 1-1 in the ACC) over the break. Against Pennsylvania (1-1) March 8, Kaiser racked up five scores and an assist as Duke rolled, 15-5.
Gallagher picked up where Kaiser left off against William and Mary (0-4), matching a career-high with a quintet of her own in a 14-5 dismantling of the Tribe. Then, in a crucial early-season matchup versus No. 9 North Carolina (2-3, 0-2), the Blue Devils prevailed 13-7 on the strength of four Kaiser goals. The Tar Heels trailed by just a one goal margin at halftime, 6-5, but Duke's offensive prowess was too much for its Tobacco Road rivals.
Blue Devils surge on, improve to 6-1
The No. 8 men's lacrosse team claimed three victims over the break--Villanova, Lehigh and then-No. 8 Loyola--as it continued its rise up the national polls. Challenged most severely by Villanova (3-1), Kevin Cassese scored an unassisted goal with 1:16 remaining in the fourth period to give Duke a 6-5 victory. Such was a climactic conclusion to a surprisingly easy spring break for the Blue Devils. Duke routed an outmanned Lehigh (3-2) squad 17-6 March 11, three days after shutting down perennial national power Loyola, 10-4. Duke and Loyola (3-1) exchanged goals early on, with the Blue Devils trailing 4-3 at halftime, before blowing the game open.
Duke fabulous in Las Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas, No. 6 women's tennis team came away without losing a single court, scoring 7-0 victories over No. 30 Texas A&M (7-2) and No. 18 UNLV (8-2). The Blue Devils--loaded with five nationally ranked singles players and all three doubles teams--cruised against the Aggies, but were challenged by a streaking Runnin' Rebels squad. In fact, the No. 2 doubles tandem in the country of Amanda Johnson and Julie DeRoo was upset 9-8 by UNLV. In the end, however, Duke was too deep for the Rebels, hampered by the absence of its No. 2 player, Gyorgyi Zsiros. A six-game UNLV winning streak ended as a result of Duke's win, as was the Rebels' perfect home record.
Don't mess with Texas A&M
Duke All-America Phillip King, ranked No. 7 nationally, dropped his first match of the year March 11, falling 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-8) in a third set super-tiebreaker to Ryan Newport of Texas A&M. The match went into a super-tiebreaker--the third set was played in a tiebreaker--because the match was already over, as the No. 7 men's tennis team (7-4) had already succumbed on all three doubles courts and on four of six singles courts to the No. 11 Aggies (12-5).
Three days before, Duke eked by No. 34 Texas Christian 4-3 thanks to singles wins from King, Jason Zimmerman and Michael Yani. The Horned Frogs fall to 7-5 on the season.
Hoang qualifies for NCAAs
for third time
Senior Tommy Hoang was selected as a wild-card NCAA wrestling qualifier at 125 pounds after leading the Blue Devils to a fifth place finish in the ACC Wrestling Championships March 9th. Hoang and junior Michael Mitchell placed third in their respective weight classes. Hoang is only the third three-time qualifier in Duke history.
Blue Devil senior Tom Cass' career came to a disappointing and painful end, as the 184-pounder suffered a torn MCL in a first-round match. In four years at Duke, Cass accumulated 91 wins, tied for the third-most victories in the program's history.
No. 1 Duke second at Lady Gamecock Classic
The top-ranked and defending national champion women's golf team finished four strokes behind champion Wake Forest at the rain-shortened Lady Gamecock Classic this past weekend. The final two rounds of the tournament were canceled due to a continuous downpour.
Bragg second overall
in men's epee
Nathan Bragg placed second for the fencing team in the men's epee portion of the NCAA Mid Atlantic/South Regionals. Other strong placers for Duke included Christian Barret, who came in fifth in saber. The top women's placer was Ashley Cockburn, who registered a 10th place spot in the foil. Final bids for the NCAA Championship will be announced later this week.
Varsity 8 outpulls Louisville
The varsity eight rowing team edged Louisville by 3.6 seconds after a 2,000 meter race, marking a solid start to the rowing team's season.
"The varsity eight had a very solid race which we will be able to improve on from here," head coach Robyn Horner said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.